Wireless roaming occurs when a client device or “station” moves throughout an area with multiple access points (APs), automatically switching from a current AP, once outside its usable range, to another AP (within the same wireless network) with better signal strength. The roaming process itself consists of a “handoff” process, which, according to the well-known IEEE 802.11 standard, is generally dictated by the client device in terms of when to disconnect from one AP and then to which new AP the client device should to re-associate.
In particular, roaming paths in wireless networks (e.g., Wi-Fi) are determined by the client station, based on detected APs during scanning phases. APs can influence this scanning phase by providing a shortlist of candidate channels to scan. However, APs is using traditional methods rely on neighboring signals to build such a list. For instance, an AP may first detects neighbors using various techniques (e.g., passively scanning each channel in turn), then determines the “best neighbors” as the top n loudest neighboring APs (e.g., based on received signal strength indication, or “RSSI”) heard for a given wireless network (e.g., service set identifier, “SSID”). The AP then provides that list to its wireless clients, where the clients are expected to try these loudest neighbors first when attempting to roam. Unfortunately, loudest neighbors do not always correspond to the best candidates for roaming from the client perspective.